


To Let A Moment Pass in Silence

by DapperSkull



Category: Generator Rex
Genre: Gen, Unbeta'd, late christmas fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 17:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17390954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DapperSkull/pseuds/DapperSkull
Summary: It's that time of year.





	To Let A Moment Pass in Silence

It was cold enough to freeze piss. As if a testament to that, icicles threateningly poked out overhead from the sloping rooftops of businesses, dripping cold water on them at the pace of a slow clock. Neither of them were looking at any of the things on display inside. Instead, White Knight’s eyes warily scanned the hordes of people pushing their way passed each other on the sidewalks and streets. One would think the throngs of bodies swaddled up thoroughly in defense against the cold would generate enough heat. Inwardly, he wondered which was worse, isolation or the overexposure to other people. His lip wanted to curl in disdain but he maintained his poker face.

He’d been so accustomed to the chill of _solitude_ in a temperature regulated room that Knight had nearly forgotten what cold in the very literal sense felt like. His cheeks were pink and burning with it and he couldn’t feel his nose anymore. And for what?

“The _hell_ are we doing here, Rex?” He snapped, impatience getting the best of him. Why he agreed to this was really beyond him. The kid could sure pick too. New York City. It was 33 fuckin’ degrees Fahrenheit, and a headache was beginning to form at his temples from the loud reds and greens adorning the city’s buildings just in time for the season.

Given that the sun was long gone, he almost hadn’t thought to bring his shades. He exhaled loudly, all the breath leaving him in a visible huff. Knight’s hand slipped into his breast pocket to pluck out his glasses, adjusting them over his eyes.

“Uh, gift shopping...” Rex gestured with _both_ of his arms to the frosted windows. Painted tackily across the glass was a man in red, his beard as white as snow. Merry lettering was scrawled above the character, it read: Holiday Specials! 50% Off!

Rex tone suggested he didn’t think Knight’s question was very bright. The teenager continued, “It’s December Twentieth, boss!”

 

“So?”

 

“Christmas is on the _twenty-fifth._ ”

Knight didn’t miss what Rex was trying to say. He obviously wanted to celebrate the holiday. It wasn’t hard to guess when they’d all just suffered through twenty straight days of hyperactivity and childish antics courtesy of this brat and his numbskull friends. He just didn’t know why anyone would want to rope _him_ into participating in _Christmas._ At least, he hoped that’s not what Rex was trying to do.

“Cut to the point.” Knight told him.  

Jamming his hands into the pockets of a thick winter coat Dr. Holiday most likely forced on him, Rex shrugged, “And I get you’re not the jolliest guy out there, but don’t you want to--”

“No, I really don’t.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say...”

Maybe not. But the combination of blaring noises, the freezing temperature, and other people were overloading his senses. He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, regretting his decision to accompany Rex.

“Don’t you want to grab something for Six at least?” Rex tried, “You’re friends.”

“Co-workers.” Knight curtly corrected.

“Aw, come on. Don’t acquaintance zone your own friend on Christmas.” The boy complained, rocking on his heels while they waited before the crosswalk for the light to signal the go ahead to pedestrians.

“There’s nothing he’d want from me anyway.” Knight muttered.

“Are you serious?” Rex stared at him exasperatedly, “But I need your help finding something. You know him better than I do.”

So that was it. He’d only brought Knight along to help with gift searching, knowing he wouldn’t talk to any of the others. Not that his jacket was helping anyway, but it seemed to grow a little more colder.

Rex trailed behind him once it was time to cross the street. He caught up to him at the next sidewalk, easily falling into step with him. But he wasn’t looking his way, instead he seemed captivated by every bit of silver or gold that caught his eye. He reminded Knight of a puppy, easily fascinated with gaudy ornaments and ribbon.

“You said we’re out shopping?” Knight snipped at him, “We haven’t stepped into a single store in the last hour.”

Finally, he’d captured the boy’s attention. Rex snapped out of his distracted daze, his steps faltering beside him. He opened his mouth to respond, but shut it when droplets of rain began to sprinkle. The cold sting of the water nearly made Knight flinch when it hit his face.

“Crap...” Rex frowned in concern, head tilted up when the worst of it started to come down. His face scrunched up in annoyance.

“Didn’t check the weather report?” Knight dryly asked.

“I thought it’d be too cold to rain.” Rex latched onto his sleeve and began tugging in the direction of the nearest restaurant, some kind of family friendly diner. Knight wanted to scoff, considering his rush for shelter to be an overreaction.  

“Can’t handle a bit of water?”

“S’not me I’m worried about…”  He muttered, pushing open the door to the establishment. Heat was let out at the action, pouring out of the doorway in one uncomfortable gust of air. Which Knight actually did flinch at. He grimaced upon setting foot inside.

Though the intensity of the lighting was less harsh, he made no motion to remove his glasses. But just because the place lacked extravagant decoration didn’t make it any less festive. He could see that a few tables had been maneuvered out of the way to make room for a tree, dressed up in the corner of the restaurant.

Rex abruptly halted in front of him, blocking the way for Knight and other people trying to come in. People grumbled and cursed, shoving their way around them. Knight’s jaw tightened in annoyance.

“Rex…” He spoke through his teeth.

“I didn’t know they put popcorn on Christmas trees.” The kid blurted out, looking at the display with far more scrutiny than should be given to a damn tree. He finally moved out of the way though, shooting a glance over his shoulder to make sure Knight was following him toward the counter. Like he’d run off given the first chance.

“It’s not the first time you’ve seen any of this. You’re acting like they don’t do this every single year. ” Knight knew that he’d had enough exposure to the world to know what Christmas was. Nevertheless, Rex still hung over every little, inconsequential detail as though it was something magnificent.

Slipping onto a bar stool, Rex answered with a shrug and dope grin, slapping the counter in a gesture for him to sit next to him. Rolling his eyes at the childish enthusiasm, Knight took a seat. At least he wasn’t so cold anymore.

“In a way, this is like everyone’s first Christmas though. Hard to feel in the spirit when it looks like the literal Apocalypse is going on outside your window.” Rex mused, leaning over the counter to snatch up two menus before an employee could even get to them, “And I’ve never celebrated Christmas before.”

Gracelessly, he slid a menu over to Knight across the counter.

“I was going to hang out with Noah,” Rex revealed,“but he’s doing family stuff or something.”

“What on earth made _me_ your second choice?” Knight asked, as he would have assumed that he wouldn’t have even made it onto Rex’s list of people to spend the holidays with.

Contrasting the careless way he seemed to have been having fun that night, Rex took a more reserved attitude, his tone strangely distant, “Noah was my second choice actually.”   

He was completely transparent. Easily, Knight could deduce that the first choice he wasn't referencing was his monkey friend who had been cured along with the rest of the masses by Rex himself. Knight couldn't muster sympathy for him. EVOs shouldn’t have ever existed in the first place, none of them, and the world was better without them.

“Fine.” Knight corrected himself despite not actually caring about the order, it was only to humor him,“Why am I _third_ , then?”

The question wasn’t enough to yank Rex out of the sudden plunge in mood. Knight could almost, _almost,_ feel an inkling of guilt for unknowingly steering the conversation in that direction. Though he hardly missed the mutated animal, a nuisance that he was, he could see that his absence was deeply felt by Rex. The foolish grin had been wiped off his face, replaced with a sorrowful sap look that was just about giving Knight tooth rot. _Oh, so he missed his friend? Sad._ Yeah, well that was just life.

The kid didn’t readily respond to his rephrasing of the question, but if they sat in silence the entire time, it made no difference to him or his migraine. A sigh left his mouth, and he thumbed through the menu to see what they had here. Not often did he get the opportunity to eat at a restaurant. This wasn’t his first outing since the World Wide Cure of course, it had simply taken many, many adjustment phases to build up to this point. Being able enough to go out for a night was something he’d had to work up to for a while. He was _still_ trying to acclimate himself to the outside world, and because he was learning how to get back into the motion of things, he seldom ate out.  

The options which immediately drew his eyes were the dishes with servings of succulent meats. It had been too damn long since he’d sunken his teeth into a warm, juicy steak, or was able to indulge until fully satisfied. To ensure he had been receiving proper nutrition befitting the leader of Providence, his diet for the last few years had been restricted. Now, he had control over what he wanted to eat. Consortium wasn’t around to regulate anything.

The waitress arrived to take their orders. She smiled at them both, getting her notepad ready.

“What’s gingerbread hot cocoa? Never tried it.” Rex beat him to responding, before Knight could even say that he wanted a glass of milk.

“It’s just hot chocolate.” the waitress answered, she was a kid too, probably only a little older than Rex, “With ginger and cinnamon to make it taste like gingerbread.”

Rex glanced away from the beverage list and smirked at him, the sullen air about him dissipating ever so slightly, “Cool. We’ll take two of those.”

“You’re really going to drink two?” Knight asked, raising a brow. If he got hyped up on sugar, he was abandoning him in the nearest alleyway.

“Uhh, no, of course not. One’s for you.

“What? I don’t _want_ one.” He objected, irked that the choice was being made for him rather than at the beverage itself.

“But it’s Christmas.” Rex was still smirking at him, “You can’t _not_ have a Christmas drink during Christmas!”

“If I remember right, your own words were that it was December Twentieth, brat.” Knight grunted irritably.

The waitress chuckled at them both, offering Knight as a solution, “There’s gingerbread coffee too if that’s more to your taste?”

It wasn’t. But it didn’t _really_ matter. Exhaling his defeat, he gave a dismissive nod, “It’s fine.”

“Alright then.” The waitress pocketed her notepad and beamed at them both, “Enjoying the start of the season?”

She said this like U.S. stores hadn’t been cramming Christmas down everyone’s throat since before even Thanksgiving. He made a noncommittal noise but Rex was the one who fully answered her, “Yeah--” He shot a glance at Knight, amending “--Well, _I’m_ enjoying it anyway.”

The waitress chuckled again, asking curiously, “Is this your grandfather?”

 

A loud silence followed.

 

It couldn’t have been more than a beat, interrupted by a startled choked laugh. Slowly, Rex’s eyes began to fill with terrible mirth, and Knight’s teeth felt like they would shatter from just how tightly he’d gnashed them behind his closed lips. It wasn’t as if he was even that old. Thirty-eight _wasn’t_ old.

The waitress looked between them with uncertainty. She was visibly confused by the uncomfortable silence and the way that Rex’s shoulders were beginning to not-so-subtly shake from the laughter he was trying to suppress in order to gleefully say, “Y-Yeah, this is my Grandpa. I was getting him out of his nursing home for a little stroll. Aw, c’mon. Don’t look at me like that.”

At the sight of the expression on Knight’s face, he stopped his ribbing.

“I’m joking, he’s my boss.”

Abashed, the girl apologized for her assumption,“Oh… I am so sorry, sir.”

He’d been on the receiving end of much deeper jabs. You didn’t lead an organization that frequently got its hands dirty for as long as he’d been in charge without being thrown a few smarting remarks. This wound was only superficial in that she hadn’t intended to offend him. There was no way she could have possibly been aware that his prematurely grayed hair was the result of an accident that landed him locked behind white walls for the better part of three years. That his appearance was an ever present, mocking reminder of what he’d lost.

They’d all lost things.  

And there were things they all carried now which hadn’t been there previously. He could only speak for himself (didn’t particularly care about the emotional baggage that wider society now heaved-- let them deal with it now that he'd done his part for them), and what _he_ carried heavy on his shoulders. Not that it made the burden lighter, but the thing was, the kid had been right about one thing. The change of season marked in many ways, a kind of renewal without the presence of looming evo threat. It didn’t make things better, but an ease had settled over those at Providence, brought in by the snow.

“It’s… fine.” He finally said for the second time, but this time it felt truer to say. He doubted Rex could forget about his old companion, so it wasn’t that having fun at Knight’s expense had put Bobo out of his mind. Even so, his mood had lifted, and the slightest light had returned to his eyes, still privately laughing at the fact that Knight had been mistaken for an elderly man. Oh, it was still annoying but hey, it was better than having the kid get all weepy in public.

The waitress left them after jotting down their meals, and Rex turned to him with a question.

“You and Six’ve known each other for a pretty long time, right?”

Regarding him with an arched brow, Knight nodded with hesitance, unsure of where the hell he was going with this, “This still about gift help?”

“Nah. I mean, we can brainstorm about that later. I was just wondering… What was Christmas like for you before the nanite event?”

It was never really much. That wasn’t what Rex was looking for but it was the truth. Even before he’d partnered up with Agent Six, he still never really _celebrated_ much of anything. December 25 was just another day to him. That’s not to say he hadn’t enjoyed sarcastically celebrating the season, but that was only after he’d acquired his partner. Their routine never changed to accommodate festivity, but there were small details that made it seem different somehow.

* * *

 

 

“Gotta love the holidays.” Knight muttered. He and Six always finished much more quickly around this time of year, when everyone was expected to shake hands and call temporary truces. Historically, there _were_ unofficial ceasefires for Christmas during times of war, but this wasn’t war, it was just business. Was it playing dirty, striking when a target felt most secure? Possibly. He didn’t care. Didn’t matter either. The sound of his gun, riddling holes into flesh with a devastating crack, wouldn’t even make the smallest ripple in the world.

Six said nothing in response. He was leaned against the wall with his back to him, staring into the burning embers of the hotel’s fireplace while Knight polished weaponry. He was either ignoring him or deep in thought, but Knight was in a charitable mood, going as far as to clean the other man’s blades along with his own tools.

Knight glanced back down, giving what he was doing his full attention. He was accustomed to the other man’s silence, knowing from the years they spent in each other’s company that he wasn’t particularly talkative. And when he was feeling chatty? It was in the form of some smart-assed snarky comment that could, at times, tick him off (when it wasn’t giving him a chuckle). So maybe it was a good thing that he was letting the moment pass in silence.

But shortly after directing his eyes downward, he picked up a tell-tale metallic ‘clink’ and the scent of burning ash. Features scrunching in disgust, he glanced back up in time to catch Six puffing out a smoke-filled breath.

“Must you do that inside?”

Six took a drag of his smoke then looked over his shoulder, exhaling in his direction, “It’s cold. I’m not going to stand in the snow just to pacify your germaphobic tendencies.”

Knight sneered at him. Six turned his gaze back to the fireplace.   

On the coffee table, sitting out of place amidst the assortment of guns, sat a tin can filled with complimentary candies. The most striking ones were the candy canes given that the other sweets were wrapped in dull brown packaging. Their bright red and white stripes caught Knight’s eye and he set his pistol down, trading it in favor of the mint candy. Peeling back the wrapping, he stood from the couch and approached Six.

The man didn’t tense, even though he was coming up from behind him. Perhaps they trusted each other too well by now. Or maybe he could simply tell from the way he moved that Knight didn’t intend to attack him.

Slowly, Six turned so that Knight was no longer staring at the back of his head. It was one of those rare moments where he was not wearing his glasses, his coal black eyes brightly reflecting the lights. The heat of the fireplace was more noticeable now that he was near, but it failed to measure up against how it felt to be standing so close to Six. Danger and lethality were close in definition too, but still too far apart like the distance Knight couldn’t close between himself and the other man. Both of these words had injury in common, but danger meant the _possibility_ of. Lethality was likely to kill. Touching flames could be dangerous. Touching Six was potentially lethal.

He was the only one who would dare. Knight reached up and curled his fingers around Six’s smaller wrist. The other mercenary watched him, _allowing_ him to do this. He _let_ Knight pluck the cigarette out from between his fingers, remaining passive even while he smashed the smoke under his heel. Knight took the unwrapped candy and pressed it into his calloused palm. Six’s skin was rough against his, no doubt from years of handling blades. His own hands were the same.

When he failed to let go of his hand right away, Six did first. Knight’s eyes tracked the motion of his hand as the man lifted the candy cane to his lips. Six’s eyes were still on him too. It was a shame he hid them most of the time.

“Merry Christmas.” Knight’s voice was low but loud in between the small space keeping them from touching again.

“I don’t celebrate.” Six bit down hard on the candy, snapping it in half, “And I don’t like mint. You owe me a pack of cigarettes.”

* * *

 

 

“We didn’t do anything.” Knight answered Rex, discomforted by the memories his questioning brought up, “It was always just another day. Nothing special.”

Disappointed by the truth, Rex sighed and propped his chin up with a hand,“Of _course_ not. Can’t expect you and agro nanny to have any fun.”

“We had fun.” Knight’s mouth formed a half-smirk, “Ours was just different from your idea of it.”

Abruptly, Rex pulled his hand away from his face and slammed his palm down against the counter with a shocked gasp. This actually made Knight wince, his face twisting back into its usual annoyed scowl.

“Ohmygod.” Rex slapped his palm against the table a few more times, leaning forward and almost into his personal space, “You were smiling just now!”

 

“No I wasn’t.”

 

“You totally were!”

 

“Even if I was, I’m not anymore! What is _wrong_ with you?”

  
“I just don’t get it.” He said baffled, “Talking about Six just now made you happy… or at least less snippy. But you’re like so insistent that you only know each other on a professional level. Why?”

“Why does it matter to you?”

Rex shrugged, “‘Cause Six never tells me anything.”

“Maybe you ought to take that as a hint and keep your nose out of other people’s business.”

“You wanna know the real reason I dragged you out with me?” Rex asked, catching him off guard for a moment, “Because it’s more than just gift shopping.”

Knight waited, but they both had to cease speaking anyway with the waitress stepping over  to set their meals and drinks down. Rex didn’t look at her as she did, his eyes were fixed on Knight. He didn’t touch his food when she left either. It was almost difficult to tell what the kid was thinking, but he wasn’t quite as adept as Knight was at masking pain.

“Noah gets to spend time with his family today.” Rex started, his fingers closed into fists on the table, “You know, watching the city lights, decorating a tree, the whole nine yards. I don’t have that. I don’t even _remember_ doing that with my own parents. I just wanted to listen to a couple of stories and… and maybe do the kind of stuff that normal people get to do today.”

“You have your knucklehead brother you can do that with.” Knight reminded him. Rex was hardly alone. Not only did he have Caesar in his ensemble but he had Holiday.

He had Six.  

Rex snorted, nodding in response, “Yeah. Yeah, he’s just… _itching_ to spend time with me, ya know? He’s all about ‘meaningless commercialized traditions.’ His words not mine. He’s so in the spirit that he actually might give you a run for your money, Knight.”

Knight took a long drink of his coffee. It burned his tongue a little but he quashed down the sting and asked,“Holiday? Six?”

“Doc’s spendin’ some time with her sister. I didn’t want to cut in. And Six…” The teen pursed his lips, “Didn’t ask him...”

“Why not?”

“I was…” Rex shifted in his seat, discomfort written on his face, “I was kind of… I thought. Maybe he’d think it was stupid. It doesn’t really seem like his thing.”

“But you thought it seemed like _mine?”_  Knight scoffed, “I was just the last person on your list.”

“What sort of freak keeps an ordered list of people they consider fami… er, _friends_.” He wrinkled his nose, “I don’t even think I have enough people to make a list that goes passed four. You’re the last person I asked yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything. I just thought you wouldn’t want to be alone.”

“Four people, huh?”

“You’re seriously going to read into that?” Rex stared at him, “There is _no_ list.”

Pulling out some money to pay for his part of dinner, Knight tossed it onto the table. It was considerate. He didn’t _have to,_ seeing as he didn’t eat anything, even if he’d been looking forward to a real meal. Now, there was a bad taste in his mouth, and it wasn’t the coffee. Festivity just didn’t become him, and that migraine really wasn’t going away. Sitting here, reminiscing about ‘the old days’ when it was only him and Six made it worse and he wasn’t going to grin and bear it for Rex’s sake. His desires for normalcy were of the superficial kind. Knight knew very well that they were only brought on because his friend was having the traditional ‘ _White Christmas’_ while he wasn’t.

“Is it that you thought I didn’t want to be alone?” Knight asked, looking down at his phone to order over a ride back to Headquarters, “Or that _you_ couldn’t _stand_ to be for once?”

He was constantly surrounded by other people after all. This was just the rare occasion where he wasn’t, because everyone else was wrapped up in their own lives. It must have been something he wasn’t used to.

The boy across from him blinked dumbly at him a few times, “I thought that was pretty obvious…”

Knight pushed out of his seat and stood from the table, pulling out one more bill before slipping his wallet away.

“Where are you going?” Rex demanded.

“Here’s an extra twenty.” Knight dropped it with the rest of the bills, sarcastically suggesting,“You can get Agent Six a pair of socks. Tell him it was from me.”

“Fine!” Rex called after him, “Maybe I will!”

 

 

That left Rex alone.

Knight’s plate was untouched, which suited him just fine. After tasting what he’d ordered, Rex found that he disliked it and switched with Knight’s dish. His boss actually had pretty good taste, which made it all the more unfortunate that he’d opted out of shopping with him. It was easier pretending that he only felt disappointment in losing his gift helper, then he didn’t have to acknowledge that it actually hurt to be left by himself.

Though, he should have predicted that it would end up this way. Just from looking at him, anyone should have been able to tell that White Knight put the ‘ **Grr’** in _Grinch._

But it wasn’t like he didn’t first try asking Caesar to come do something with him.

“I can’t right now. I’m a little busy.” Blah Blah, of course he was, as predictable as White Knight was.

“Yeah, no. It’s cool.” Rex had nodded to him, pretending that he understood,“I get it. You’re wrapped up in some project right now. Then a different project when I ask you to spend some time with me a few months from now. And then another project after that.”

Caesar rolled his chair away from his lab table in order to turn and face him. His eyes searched his face, unable to grasp _why_ this was so upsetting for him. He was never going to put forth the effort to really try and understand either.

“You’re acting like I never make time for you, little brother.” Caesar shook his head at him, “Which is silly. You and I do a lot of things together--”

But they really didn’t. Not since Caesar crossed back over from Black Knight’s side. It was hard getting his attention at all anymore. When the nanite problem had been eradicated, it was like Rex ceased being a concern of his.

“--I can’t possibly devote all of my time to you. I have work. You’ll be fine without me. If it’s only company you want, you have your friends for that.”

“They’re busy, Caesar.” He said through his teeth, “I already said that.”

“You did?” He blinked a few times silently before smiling disingenuously, “I was distracted. I must not have heard you. Sorry.”

“What are you even doing? What’s so important that you can’t put it on hold for just a few hours?” Rex demanded. He had to wonder then, what Caesar used to do with their parents for Christmas. What they all used to do.Together. With Rex.

Belatedly, it hit him that Caesar lived with knowledge of what it was like having their mother and father around, it wasn’t lost to him. Of course, Rex _knew_ that already, it just wasn’t something he’d been thinking about until looking a little more closely at his brother, not paying mind to whatever explanation he was trying to feed him. It was there. Forced detachment. Caesar knew how it felt, waking to their faces every morning and wishing them goodnight. He remembered every celebration. Most of all, he knew how it felt to have them taken away too. Guilty, Rex regretted pushing this. He didn’t realize that Caesar had stopped speaking and was instead slowly turning back to what he was working on.

“Caesar?” He tentatively began.

“Hm?” His brother did not look up.

“Is there anything you used to do with Mom and Dad? Around this time of year?”

Caesar stopped tinkering, the sound of metal abruptly halting. He was silent for a long while before informing him, “Before you were born, no. We never did anything. Mom and Dad thought that Christmas was just… unimportant.”

Rex’s breath caught in his throat.

That was new information.

It had taken him by surprise. What could have changed their minds in that span of time? Unless he was implying that they only started doing Christmas because of him, a thought that filled him with a sense of _wrongness_ . What did that mean? What--

“Why did you start?” tumbled out passed his lips before he could even make sense of what spun around in his head. What changed?

His brother turned in his chair, still smiling at Rex in a way that said he found his ignorance endearing, “I guess… It is because they loved you. You were very special. The baby.”  

Discomfort knitted itself tightly into the pit of his gut. Rex didn’t know why. Hearing these words from Caesar just _felt_ … inexplicably awful. He didn’t want to analyze them too deeply either, not now.

“That’s not fair though, Caesar.” He protested, grabbing onto his wrist “That’s not fair to you. We should do something. You and me.”

With eyes twinkling in amusement, Caesar waved him off, “It’s fine, Rex. It means nothing to me. Really. Meaningless, commercialized traditions aren’t something that interest me.”

He still didn’t think that was fair but Caesar didn’t say much more. He told Rex to enjoy himself in spite of his supposed indifference, offering up a bit of cash which Rex _didn’t_ say no to. Hey, free money. His intention had been to use it to pay for his and Knight’s food but the grouch ditched him. It was hard to say what offended him enough to leave so abruptly.

He slurped down his hot chocolate and slipped into his pocket the extra twenty the other man had left on the table. The man _said_ to get Six some socks. That’s what he was going to do.  

He hit the shops after dinner, but it was difficult to know just exactly what to get. When a potential gift idea jumped out at his attention, he had to pause and puzzle out whether it was something only _he_ was interested in, or if it was something that another person would actually enjoy receiving. And god knew his tastes were hardly appreciated by anyone. With the exception of Beverly Holiday of course. He and Doc’s sister had a little bit in common, even where his and Noah’s likes diverged. Music was one….

Right. His eyes lit up. Right Music.

However, on his way to the music store, he spotted a splash of gold out of the corner of his eye. It was a rectangular frame, nearly missed by him in the merriment and all. But he didn’t miss it, not because of the frame itself was anything special, it was the sample picture it held inside. His eyes lingered, uncaring of the people who brushed shoulders with him on the sidewalk as they passed him. The models in the frame were obviously only paid to be happy.

Reaching up to touch the window, he recognized what the picture was meant to convey, once he looked beyond the plastic smiles. It was what he wanted, only cheapened by the forced posing. His fingers slid down the glass, falling back to his side. Knight had asked him, if it was only he who could not stand to be alone. Rex didn’t deny it, and he never attempted to hide it either, but now he _understood_ . He’d been so fixated on having everything perfect for himself that he failed to take into consideration that not many people had a reason to celebrate this year.

Caesar who, as it turned out, wasn’t close in the way that Rex initially assumed he was to their parents.  Knight, who’d never been close to anyone, ripped away from those he _did_ formerly share bonds with.

 

His feet were moving of their own accord, taking him into the old shop.

 

***

 

“I didn’t really know what to get you.”

Rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously, he watched his brother open up the envelope, pulling out a gift card to some popular smoothie joint.

“I’ve never really done this before so…” Rex added a tad too defensively. He wasn’t so much a fan of smoothies, indifferent to them really. The main thing was that it was something Caesar enjoyed, so he  just figured that they could both go.

“Just thought that we could go grab some smoothies.” He prattled on, his voice taking on a little flat tone, “When you _finally_ have the time I mean…”

“Rex?” Caesar stopped him from rambling any further, “We are probably going to have to wait.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. You’re busy...”

“No. That’s not it.” His brother said, “The stores. They won’t be open today.”

Rolling his eyes, Rex let out a breath that nearly felt like relief to him. He almost didn’t know why, but knew that it was because he wasn’t being blown off again. A smile slowly crept onto his face.

“Duh. I didn’t expect to head out right away.”

“Thank you.” Caesar told him. He sounded like he meant that part, “It… means--”

“Nothing to you. I know. You don’t have to lie. Christmas just doesn’t mean the same thing to you as it does to me… Like I _wanted_ it to mean to me anyway.” Rex gave an unbothered shrug, “I’ve been trying to force it without really thinking about why today might be hard for some people.”

“That explains why there’s no party.” Caesar mused.

“Nah. It wouldn’t be much of one. Doc’s still gone with her sister…” And most of the Providence Agents had gone home a while ago. He didn’t think that Six and Knight were party types either.

Putting the envelope down on his work table, Caesar closed the space between himself and Rex, drawing him into a hug. It surprised him, making him stiff before he could relax and awkwardly pat his back in return. Caesar kept his hand clamped onto his shoulder when he pulled away, smiling sunnily, “Still, you’re wrong. The holiday I may not care for, but your gift-- It _does_ mean something to me. You gave it to me.”

Embarrassed by the display of affection, Rex awkwardly took a step back, “It’s just a gift card…”

“Even so.” Caesar shrugged, his eyes falling on the other wrapped box Rex held in hand. Curiously, he asked, “Is that for Agent Six?”

“Huh? Uh, no. I already gave him his.” Rex nodded casually. And by that, he meant that he’d passed him off a box, telling him that it was from White Knight. It wasn’t a lie, but Rex was sure that the man hadn’t actually been serious when he told him to pick up some socks

Taking a few steps back, he nodded to Caesar, “I’ll see you, bro. I have to go do something real quick.”

He turned and made his way down the hall, almost not hearing Caesar’s little ‘ _Merry Christmas’_ thrown at his back. Every now and again, Rex had to pause so that he could peer within the rooms to check if the person he was looking for was in. He didn’t find Knight until he came to the mess hall where the man was seated at one of tables, eating what looked like really bland cereal.

“Boss!” He called out to him.

 

  
It was too early in the morning for Knight to deal with him. Slipping his spoon out of his mouth, he suspiciously watched the boy take a seat across from him. It was the big day that Rex was waiting for. December 25th, and he was preparing for a headache. Already, he began to dread the day.

“What?” His voice was barely above a mutter. Much, much too early for this.

“I have something for you.”

Knight blinked a few times, but before he could manage a response, Rex was already sliding a little box across the table to him. It was rectangular, about the size of a book. His brows lifted slightly. He knew that Rex had gone gift shopping, but he’d never expected to be a recipient of one. He wasn’t holding his breath as his fingers got to work with the wrapping, but his chest felt tight as though he were anyway. It was a crap job, the wrapping paper messily strung around the packaging. Didn’t matter though, because it didn’t last there for very long. He tore through it, and opened the box.

The first thing he saw was his own face. He stiffened at the sight of his usual scowl behind polished glass.

It was a group picture. He stood in it with Agent Six, Doctor Holiday, and Rex. It was hard to tell when it had been taken. The golden frame holding the photograph had been molded into swirling patterns, spirals that intricately danced along the edges of the picture. Despite the craftsmanship, it was the thing that caught his attention second.

“I thought about what you said…” The boy across from him suddenly voiced, “And you weren’t totally wrong. Huh, never thought _I’d_ be saying that. I was a jerk. I only wanted you around because I was looking for the cheesy Hallmark moment that I thought everyone else was getting.”

“So what?” Knight snorted, “This a pity gift?”

“No.” Rex disagreed, “Hey, I said you weren’t _totally_ wrong, not that you weren’t still wrong. Maybe not everybody has a reason to celebrate today, but I still don’t think you should be alone. I still… I consider you family too.”

Family?

“Merry Christmas, White Knight.” 

**Author's Note:**

> 1) I've never read M. Rex but I've seen comic panels of Six enjoyin some cancer sticks. And I know Knight's a germaphobe so I bet they got into fights a bunch way back when about his filthy habit.
> 
> 2) This is late because... *shifty eyes* I don't have a reason.  
> Hope you guys had a nice [Insert Holiday here] and I wish luck to anyone returning to school now :^/ may cthulhu's squiddy ass have mercy on your souls...


End file.
